The lassitude that follows
by elana18
Summary: The ups and downs in the married life of Bulma and Vegeta and the anxiety and strain both have to bear while living with each other; the story of the marriage that involves no love, and all that leads to love.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: **

**Hi guys. Well, it's my first time writing a story, so please be nice to me.**

**Also English is not my first language, so please overlook any mistake you find.**

**I am planning to make it more than one chapter; and that depends on the readers. I know this chapter will not make much sense but it is just to set the mood. I don't quite know what I will do with the story as I will be constructing it as I write.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z, just using the characters to write the story.**

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It was a sunny day of June, and the weather was quite hot. A woman could be seen working on what seemed like a huge machine. Once in a while she would wipe the sweat off her face.

"God, its hot today" she murmured.

"He better appreciate what I am doing for him, when I should be taking a nap in the air conditioned room." She had been working for several hours and it was afternoon. The weather was getting more and more hot and she was feeling energy leaving her body.

'All that waking up early to take a bath has gone to waste. Uh! All of my clothes are greasy and I feel all grimy.'

A voice came from inside the room.

"Bulma honey, come inside, you'll get dehydrated. Poor girl, you have been working for hours now. Get some rest dear, this thing can wait." Bunny Briefs called from inside.

"Mom, I am okay. Besides if I don't complete this thing today Vegeta will probably kill me, I have been putting it off for three day now. So I better finish it off if I want to live."

She laughed at the thought of it. Yeah Vegeta will kill her for sure this time. She remembered the fit Vegeta had the day before.

**Flashback**

"WOMAN!" Vegeta growled.

"What is it Vegeta?" Bulma replied when she saw Vegeta at the door of her room.

"Where is the gravity machine?" He was getting impatient. The gravity room was damaged 2 days before but still wasn't repaired because Bulma had to attend meetings. She was the one who constructed the machine, so only she could fix it. Vegeta had waited for 2 days and now he was at the verge of bursting.

"I am afraid it's not completed yet. I have to change the wiring and the circuit is completely damaged. It will take more time"

Vegeta clenched his teeth; he was not hearing that for the first time. Bulma had told him the same thing a day before and now he was pissed off.

"And how long is that supposed to take"

"Fixing will require half a day but Vegeta I am sorry I cannot fix that today. I have a meeting and I have to leave in an hour. I will start the work when I come back, okay"

Bulma turned to leave, but Vegeta was not going to let Bulma go that easily.

"And do you think that I will accept that? You are going to complete this no matter what and that means today and that is final"

"Stop being a child Vegeta. I have more important things to do apart from fixing your toy. Get a life"

The look on his face was hilarious. Bulma was telling him what to do; HIM, the prince of all Saiyans. He will show her what she should do. Uh oh, that doesn't look good.

Bulma felt herself being hoisted into air and a scream escaped her lips.

"Hey Vegeta, what are you doing, PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANCE! I said put me down." She kept kicking and screaming.

Vegeta carried her to the gravity chamber and dropped her there. 'Ouch! That hurts.'

"You are not moving till you have completely fixed this thing, I will make sure of it."

"Please Geta, it is very important deal and I cannot let it go. We will face a great loss if I miss that meeting" Bulma pleaded. Yes, she had delayed fixing the gravity machine, but she was very busy these days. She was having lots of meetings and this was one she should not miss.

"And I should care, why?"

'Huh! This will take long.' Bulma thought. 'And it is getting late'

"Listen Vegeta, I am sorry I didn't fix it, but please just this once, let me attend this meeting. I promise I will fix this first thing in the morning. Please Vegeta, try to understand."

She was almost sure about what was coming next. She braced herself for his answer that he didn't care and she should do it now. But what he said surprised her.

"You better do that if you want to live"

She couldn't believe it. For once, Vegeta had let her have her own way. She hugged Vegeta while saying thank you over and over again. The expression of Vegeta was of utter embarrassment, he pushed her away. She giggled. Vegeta growled and left.

**End of flashback**

Bulma giggled again. That was unexpected. A voice brought her out of trance.

"Are you completely stupid? I don't find anything funny about fixing the machine."

Vegeta was standing next to the machine glaring at her.

"What?"

"When will it be ready?"

"Huh?"

"I said when will it be ready?" He yelled.

"Have you lost your hearing as well" He added with a smirk. This was amusing to him. He loved making fun of her.

"Hey, I am perfectly well, thank you. And this thing is almost ready. I am just giving it final touch."

"Good. I can't wait anymore."

After a few minutes of working on it and counter checking it was done. Bulma took a deep breath. At last it was done. Now Vegeta will not come ranting at her about the machine.

"It's done your highness. You can play with it now"

"It is not a play thing and you know it. Now move."

"Yeah, yeah! Whatever."

Bulma left him there and went to her room to wash the grime and sweat off her body.

'Really, that person is something. I have been working on his machine for hours and he didn't even say thank you.' She filled the tub with hot water and got into it.

"Uh, this feels so good."

She relaxed in the tub. After spending half an hour in the tub she came out and got dressed. Then she combed her hair. After fixing herself, she went downstairs to watch television. She was too tired to do anything and she was feeling very hungry.

When she got there, the lunch was ready and her mother just finished putting the dishes on the table.

"Bulma dear, can you please tell Vegeta that lunch is ready."

"Oh mom, let him be. He will get out when he wants to. I am too tired to get up."

"Oh! Okay dear, you rest for a bit and I will call him myself"

"Oh come on mom, stop treating him like royalty. You spoil him so much."

"Well he is royalty." Bulma's Jaw dropped.

'Mom, snap out of it, are you under some sort of spell.' Bulma thought.

"Well at least some one has some sense." The person in question spoke out of no where.

Vegeta just entered the house.

"Yeah, like hell." Bulma answered.

Bunny Briefs perked up upon hearing his voice. "Vegeta, you probably are hungry. The lunch is ready, come eat."

Vegeta snorted and went into kitchen to eat his lunch. While Bulma continued watching TV. Bunny invited her for lunch but she resigned saying that she will eat later with trunks.

She fell asleep on the couch.

Later she woke up from a familiar voice, Trunks' voice. Trunks came back from school and entered with greeting. He greeted Bulma with regular "Hi Ma!" and kiss on the cheek and then went to kitchen to eat. Bulma yelled after him to go wash his hands first. He greeted Vegeta and got a nod as a reply.

Bulma usually observed that the father son relation was not as strong as it should be. She loved and adored trunks; and fulfilled his every need and wish. The mother son bond was very strong and trunks shared everything with her. But Bulma feared that the Vegeta and trunks are not as much attached with each other. Sure, Trunks was inspired by his father and he looked up to him, he respected him and tried desperately to be like him; but he was always stiff in front of him and didn't talk to him much. A 'Hi Dad' was regular. Vegeta was interested in training him and making him a warrior but he behaved more like a teacher than a father. This worried her a bit. She had been married to Vegeta for almost nine years and still there was no love between them, he was only here because of his own reasons that didn't include love of family. She wanted to make the family work. Vegeta did tease her at time but it was his hobby from start, that doesn't mean he harbors any affection for her. Today his mood has been unusually good. But when he is his usual self, arguing with him is not a good idea.

Bulma also went in to have lunch with her family. Rather than family, it seems to be a group of people living together under the same roofs, and that's all.

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**Please review if you like this, and I will continue this story. Thank you.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note:**

**Hey Guys, **

**So I finally decided to update. I stopped this story there because I didn't get enough reviews (but special thanks to ****Cara2012**** who actually reviewed and made it her favorite, and all those people who followed this). But when I checked today after almost 1 month I actually found that quite a lot of people had read it and some have followed it as well. This gave me energy to update another chapter. **

**Hope you enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z.**

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It was a Saturday morning and I was free at last. Finally I got time to myself. I just wanted to relax for a while leaving all the tensions aside and just enjoying myself. Days off made me happy. But lately I was having so much to do, and so much was on my mind that I was not able to shake off no matter how much I tried.

What matters to me is my family and my prime concern is their happiness. If my son was depressed how can I be able to live happily? Lately I felt like he was feeling depressed and wasn't telling me what was bothering him. He was not usually like this. I was his best friend and he shared everything with me. Watching Trunks act like that made me really concerned. Well I thought may be he is growing up therefore he doesn't feel secure in telling me everything but that didn't allay my concern. I didn't want him to act like this with me. It made me feel insecure to see my precious kid depressed and not voicing his problems.

When he was born I found a reason to live. Before that my life was meaningless, at least that's what I thought. Since I met and married Vegeta, I felt that I was being used. But when Trunks was born I felt a sense of protection and security.

**Flashback**

I was in the hospital in deep agonizing pain, my family was there with me and that excluded Vegeta because he was never there for his family. He had taken a space ship and had gone to space to find Goku. He left me here, without even bothering to come back to see his son.

After an hour or so, when the doctors brought my son to me, what I saw is a beautiful baby boy with lavender hair. Everything about him was adorable. He was the best thing that happened to me. The first time I saw his face, I made up my mind to protect him from everything. I knew about Vegeta's dark past and I was determined to make sure Trunks didn't turn out like Vegeta. I wanted everything to turn out good for him, everything to work out for him.

**End of Flashback**

Since that day I have been bringing him up as a single parent. When Trunks was 3, Vegeta came back from his fruitless search. He didn't feel happy; at least that's what it looked like. Instead he complained about his hair colour and tail. His presence made no difference but I was happy that Trunks at least found a father figure he can look up to. I was glad that he will not have to live without a father as I have known Gohan had a hard life without his father. Just Vegeta's presence was enough to make me happy, seeing Trunks working hard to be like his father was really a big thing for me.

Though Vegeta has always acted cold towards Trunks but that never prevented him from fancying Vegeta. But lately I felt that he was not his usual self. I know my family is not so much attached to each other but still they are not that much alienated. Trunks didn't talk much with Vegeta now a day and that made me utterly angry and annoyed. He was his only kid not to mention super genius and adorable one. Yeah he was a little devil at times doing things that annoyed people, Vegeta mostly, but that made him all the more adorable. But the way Vegeta behaves is not acceptable and I won't let him do that to my baby. I will get them to act like father and son. Yeah that was my goal and I will make it happen. I decided to confront Vegeta and make him realize his mistakes. Yeah I will do that.

Later that day when Trunks was home I asked him to have lunch and take a nap. I didn't want him to hear me talk to Vegeta, it may get ugly. My parents were out and it was best time for me to talk to Vegeta. I waited for him in the living room. Finally he came in and I served him lunch. I was searching for words to say. I had lot to say but didn't know where to start. I guess Vegeta also sensed my mood and was eyeing me curiously. When he completed the lunch and I didn't say anything he got up to leave.

I finally mustered courage and said "Vegeta, you know you are not being fair"

Vegeta stopped and turned his head towards me. He raised his brows and I know he wanted me to explain what I meant by that.

"You know how Trunks envisions you as a hero. You are being unfair to him, to me, to yourself. I don't know why you do this… what is on your mind, but you are hurting him and me also. You are destroying the relationship you both have. He is just a kid, he needs his father Vegeta. You barely talk to him, heck you never even acknowledge his presence. Children at this age need to be loved…"

"I have gone though that stage woman, and I never was loved and I have grown just fine."

"Yeah that's what you think."

"And what do you mean by that."

"I mean Vegeta, we all need to be treated with love at this stage otherwise the person will grow to have sense of lacking something…. something important."

"He is not one of you; he has Saiyan blood running through his veins. Saiyans don't need emotions. This is stupid"

"He is half human, in case you don't know. He needs to be treated nicely and lovingly."

"What are you trying to say exactly?"

A sigh escaped my lips "Listen Vegeta, I know that you have been raised differently and I am also sorry to say that you were raised by a tyrant instead your parents but that doesn't mean that you have to treat your son in the same way…." The moment I said that I put my hand on my mouth. That wasn't what I was planning to say. It came out all wrong. Vegeta hated most to be reminded about his past. I could sense his anger.

I continued "I just wanted to say that Vegeta please spend more time with him and talk to him more openly and frequently. I know he feels deprived of the love of father."

"I won't change my ways with the brat." came his stern reply.

"Why? Don't you love him?"

His evil laugh echoed in the entire house. It sent chills down my spine. "Love? Who loves whom? I don't love him. I don't harbor any emotions for anyone. To me he is something unwanted. That was only a mistake I committed, I never wanted that to happen. And if you think that I have eloped with you because of some stupid feelings than you are sadly mistaken, it was all because that brat came at the wrong time."

With his each word came a mountain of agony crashing down on me. My heart felt like it was going to burst. All this time I thought he loved me, if not loved he cared, if not me then his son. Who doesn't love his child? But he just blew up everything. Tears started forming in my eyes, but I was unwilling to show my weakness. What was my child to do? He was devastated. He had a father who didn't even want him. This made me unable to control my tears. They came streaming down. I still tried to keep my composure.

"If you don't care about me or Trunks, why are you here? What is binding you? Why don't you go away? Why? WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE?"

With every word my voice rose.

He replied with a laugh. "Do you think that I am here because of you people? You sure are amusing. I am here because I get food and shelter here while waiting for that blasted kakarot to come back so that I can kill him once and for all and then blow this mud ball."

With that he just left me there with tears streaming down my face. I was not shocked at his feelings for me, as I somehow knew that. The thing that shocked me was what he thought of Trunks. I broke down and dropped to the floor. I started sobbing. When I lifted my head up, my eyes widened in shock…

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**So, that's all guys. Hope you enjoyed. Please review if you like this and I'll write more for you.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:**

**Sorry Guys, I know that I have not updated for a long time but my studies are not allowing me. It is really hard to update right now, and I apologize for that. This Chapter is not so good as I didn't spend too much time on it, (please don't kill me :p) but I wanted to update, so I put that here. I hope I get more time to write. I will fix this chapter if I feel the need, also tell me if you didn't like this chapter and I will try to edit it so that it is in better shape, but I can't promise anything. And I will try to update when I get time (hopefully). Life is tough sighs.**

**So, I hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ.**

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Then what I saw made me want to cry hard. Trunks was standing right there with tears streaming down his face. He seemed really shocked at that moment. Who could imagine how a mere child would have felt when told that he is not loved, not even wanted. It was MY fault then why was HE suffering? It was I who foolishly loved Vegeta to the point that this happened. Somehow I knew that he would never love me back, but still I was so stupid to do this. I may have been an adventurous girl in the past but now it was not about only me, it was about my son also. If I had not done that in the first place, this would not have happened.

I extended my hand towards Trunks. He advanced towards me and took my hand. I hugged him so tight that if he had been human, he would have felt pain. I let him cry and let it all out. Both of us sat there, crying. All the time I thought that Vegeta loved his family and didn't want to show it because of his personality but he proved me wrong.

I never wanted Trunks to hear this; I never wanted him to suffer. But this happened and now it could not be undone. I wanted him to feel better so I decided to say something just to see how he was feeling.  
"Trunks, honey I told you take a nap. Why did you come down?"

No answer. I noticed that his sobs had died.

"Trunks?"

I saw that he was breathing evenly. Just to confirm I looked at his face and he was indeed sleeping. I carried him upstairs to his room and laid him on his bed.

Being the sole heir of a Capsule Corporation, he had a room quite spacious as compared to other and equipped with luxuries as well. Let's say it had everything one can ask for including a King sized bed which he didn't need as he was just a child but anyways.

I sat on his bed and looked at him. I noticed how his eyes were swollen with crying. I noticed that we had been crying for more than three hours. I pushed his hair back from his eyes and kissed him on the forehead. That night, I decided to sleep beside him as we both need company.

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**So that's it. I know this chapter is dumb :'(. Please forgive me. I'll try to write better.  
And please REVIEW so that I know you are still interested. Thank you for your time. **


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